Earthquake! – Part 3

CONCLUSION:

Life on this planet Earth today is increasingly and shakily fragile. We live every day under the threat of catastrophic environmental disasters and weapons of mass destruction.

In the ancient book of the Old Testament, the prophet Zachariah gives us a stabilizing perspective in these fear-filled times. Zechariah reminds us that even though there will be calamitous events in the last days, human history is not destined for accidental death and extinction. Rather we have the glorious hope, and can expect a merciful deliverance and the long-awaited kingdom of God’s promised Messiah. (Zech. 14:4) However, the hope of immortal blessedness at death has led to a widespread neglect of the Bible doctrine of the resurrection yet there is not a doctrine in the gospel on which more stress is laid.” (GC 547)

Zechariah writes, “and I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will (test) them as gold is (tested); they shall call on my name, and I will hear them. I will say, It is my people; and they shall say, The Lord is my God.” (Zech 13:9) The condition, however, for the “joy of resurrection” is indeed obedience to the Lord…(Zech 6:15) Zechariah not only reveals a God who is able to protect His people, but a God who has given us many truths we need, to know His Messiah and His plan for the future… our strength in prophecy.

In any giant earthquake disaster there are always gripping and painful stories of valiant rescuers miraculously freeing victims buried for hours or days under tones of rubble. In the recent Taiwan quake a six-year old orphan boy clung to life for more than three days in the dark wreckage of his home. His only questions as the rescuers spoke to him while frantically digging were, “I need water (of Life) and why am I here?” Appropriate questions for may today too. The boy had been entombed for more than 80 hours.

Another absorbing story was that of the recent Turkey quake in which rescuers pulled a woman alive from the rubble more than 108 hours after she was buried. She was “plucked” to safety a day after many foreign rescue teams pulled out of the quake zone saying cold weather made further survival all but impossible for anyone under the rubble. “And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.” (John 10:28)

One of the most bitterly tragic consequences of an earthquake are the countless families clinging to hopes of finding missing loved ones still alive.

It is very strange, perhaps, how during the height of an earthquake many victims turn to God with bare and impassioned pleas for help, even as churches collapse with all bells helplessly ringing, once the glory for them as a shrine in spacious plazas where women gather and pray for mercy such as the Indians of Mexico did in a recent quake. Survivors believe, “God sent us this disaster in punishment for our sins.” Thousands of children are orphaned needlessly and many will suffer dreams of the living nightmare. Among adults as well as children, in major quakes, psychic pain is profound. “People frantically call various hotlines, afraid that the quake was God’s sign that they’re doomed to hell”, said one psychologist. Some cry out hysterically, “The end of the world is here!”

How much more is the need of spiritual counseling in a calamitous world full of strife, and fear, to “Say to those who are of a fearful heart. Be strong, fear not;…he will come and save you.” (Isa. 35:4) and too, “fear not, little flock; for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.” (Luke 12:32)

The command from heaven, (Rev. 16:1) indicates that God’s longsuffering is ended and His judgement can no longer be delayed. His glory demands that His name be vindicated.
“It is done!” announces the completion of the wrath of God upon those who have refused the cry from the cross, “It is finished!” (John 19:31) God’s voice from both temple and throne is heard. His judicial action symbolized by voices, thunders, and lightnings, precedes the great earthquake, Ch. 18.

The gigantic earthquake is worldwide, Ch 10, and only one kingdom escapes, for it cannot be shaken (Dan 2:44); Christ’s kingdom. “And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every freeman, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains and said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the wrath of the Lamb; for the great day of His wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?” “The earth mightily shook as the voice of the Son of God called froth the sleeping saints. Then the living saints and the risen ones raised their voices in a long, transporting shout of victory. The living saints are changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, and caught up with the risen ones, and together they met their Lord in the air. Oh, what a glorious meeting!” (ER287)

“The coming of Christ is nearer than when we first believed. The great controversy is nearing its end. The judgments of God are in the land. They speak in solemn warning, saying “Be ye also ready; for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh.” (Matt. 24:44) Oh, how many who have not sought their souls’ salvation will soon make the bitter lamentation: “The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved!” Let no none say in his heart or by his works, “My Lord delayeth His coming.” (8T 252)
“God will not and has not revealed to us the time when this message will close, or when probation will have an end. It is our duty to watch and work and wait, to labor every moment for the souls of men that are ready to perish, and to keep walking continually in the footsteps of Jesus.” (ISM 191)

In chapters 15-16 in the Book of Revelation, we read of the preparation for the final plagues in the sign of the Seven Angels and the seven golden vials (bowls). This sign (symbol) is called “Great and marvelous” because these angels have the seven last plagues and in them the fury of God is completed. Chronologically, the next event following the outpouring of the bowls is the coming of Christ in victory, Ch 39.

The third angel’ s message, embracing the messages of the first and second angels, is the message for this time. We are to raise aloft the banner on which is inscribed: “The commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.” “The world is soon to meet the great Lawgiver over his broken law. God calls upon His people to magnify the law and make it honorable.” (8T 197)

“By faith Christ was the victor on the cross. Never before had the earth witnessed such a scene, as the multitude so stood paralyzed, and with bated breath gazed upon the Saviour. There was a violent earthquake. The people were shaken together in heaps.., IN the surrounding mountains, rocks were rent asunder, and went crashing down into the plains. The dead were cast out of their tombs. Creation seemed to be shivering to atoms. Priests, rulers, soldiers, executioners, and people, mute with terror, lay prostrate upon the ground…”(DA 756)

This earthquake was the first earth sign of God’s might and power unleashed in all its fury upon the early inhabitants of that age. God’s last sign, again, will appear in an earthquake more terrible than the world has ever yet beheld in magnitude, at the Second Coming of Christ.
“For the time has come that judgement must begin at the house of God; and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God? And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?” (1 Peter 4:17)

I ask those to whom the light of truth has come: What are you going to do during the year that is just new? Will you devote your time to strengthening the things that remain, that are ready to die? As surely as God’s word is truth, He is thus soon to punish a guilty world. May it be ours, according to the promise, to have “Sure dwelling” and “quiet resting places” in that terrific hour. (Isa. 32:18, 19)

Today earthquake prediction on a scientific basis, unquestionably, does not yet exist, for this is still God’s prerogative. The question is not whether the accurate place, time and magnitude of an event can be predicted, but whether warning the people is likely to be effective. But not only is the prediction and warning a problem but also the social and economic implications of forecasting natural disasters of this magnitude. False alarms and inaccurate timing could create more problems than already exist.

It is much the same with arbitrary man in his spiritual beliefs and awareness. Will man heed the obvious warning signs of God unfolding before us daily, and will they be effective in one’s salvation? Will false prophets also, increasingly, enter the churches of God and create more internal problems than already exist?
With their motto “hope dies last”, rescue teams from around the world in the Athens killer quake, worked relentlessly to release the living, and not just to remove dead corpses.

Brethren, let this be our motto too, that our heart’s desire and prayer to God, is that we, by all means might save some of the living and the dead in their trespasses, for there is no restraint to the Lord to save by many or by few (1 Sam 14:6), and those such as be of a contrite spirit. (Ps. 34:18)

There was a fiery preacher in San Francisco, California that had a revival meeting daily for one week to a packed church of cultivated and conservative-like visitors. At the close of the soul-trying meeting the preacher concluded with the invitation by saying, “I’ll give you 8 days to think about accepting Jesus Christ. Give me your answer next week.” He admitted that it was the biggest mistake he ever made in his ministry. On April 18, 1906, at about 5:12 a.m., the San Andreas fault slipped over a long segment in causing a great earthquake of substantial destruction. Damage was severe in San Francisco and in other towns situated near the fault, some 120 miles away. Approximately 700 people were killed. The earthquake started a fire which did about $400,000.00 in damage.
Sometime later the same preacher returned to the same church as a visiting pastor. He asked the congregation, “Twenty years ago I preached at this very same church. Is anyone here now that was present then?” No one answered! Sis. White has said, that “For those who think…’later’, there is no hope.” When the Bible says, today, don’t say tomorrow. Don’t harden your heart. Jesus Christ, today in the Most Holy, as High Priest, is making atonement for our sins. Jesus Christ today is reconciling sinners with God and has to make decisions for everyone personally; a terrible decision, life or death… eternal life or death.
“The great day of His wrath is come, and who is able to stand?” Before that day comes with its fearful scenes, we pray you, reader, give your most serious and candid attention to your salvation.

Many now despise the institution of prayer, but at one time or another all men will pray. Those who will not now pray to God in penitence, will then pray to the “rocks” and mountains in despair; and this will be the largest prayer meeting every held.

Ah! Better far
To cease the unequal war,
While pardon, hope, and peace may yet be
found;
Nor longer rush upon the embossed shield
And all your weapons of rebellion ground
Better pray now in love, than pray erelong in
fear Call ye upon Him while He waits to hear;
So in the coming end,
When down the parted sky
The angelic hosts attend
The Lord of heaven, most high,
Before whose face the solid earth is rent,
You may behold a friend omnipotent,
And safely rest beneath His sheltering wings,
Amid the ruin of all earthly things.
(Dan & Rev. 451)

Sitting at my desk and concluding this paper, another minor tremor jarred us mindfully, as my pen conclusively slashed to one side. Strangely, I quickly glanced above to the porcelain vase still lying safely on its side. It quietly rolled again to one side and stopped at the book shelf railing with a tinkling thump, a haunting stern reminder of a sacred heart-searching experience, yet, bitter-sweet… “Hope dies last”!
AMEN